Secrets Hidden in Blood
by Saxyguy
Summary: Interesting twist on PoR that won't leave me alone until i get some of it down. Jill discovers her true heritage and joins Ike and company slightly earlier. rated m for blood, violence and maybe lemons if you're lucky. P
1. Secrets Revealed

**Chapter 1**

Jill sat outside her tent, staring at the stars in wonder. She was dressed in a simple tunic and trousers, having left her armor in her tent. She could never properly relax while wearing so much metal, the mere presence of the stuff unnerved her for some reason. She was on her way to assignment in the most important port city of Crimea. She traveled alone, and she preferred it that way. She herd a twig snap and she was instantly on her feet, prepared to fight.

A cloaked form stepped out into the clearing. He was about six feet tall and his features were all hidden by his cloak. "Jill, Wyvern Rider of Daein. I have been searching for you for quite some time." The man said as he adjusted the longbow and quiver of arrows slung across his back.

"What do you want with me?" Jill asked as she backed away cautiously.

"I wish to inform you of your true heritage." The man stated, confusing Jill.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jill asked.

"You know your family is not originally from Daein, correct?" The man asked.

"Yes. Our Wyvern Rider unit was from Begnion. Why do you ask?" Jill said, still not lowering her guard.

"That is correct, but your family has a much longer history." The man said as he lowered himself into a crouch. "You might want to sit down. This will take a while." He said, prompting Jill to sit. "During the beorc enslavement of the laguz, there was a family of beorc mages that experimented with removing a laguz's power to change, essentially tuning laguz into beorc. They had enslaved one of the noble families of Gallia. It was on this family that they performed their sick tests. They eventually found a way to do it."

"What does this have to do with me?" Jill asked.

"The laguz family that the beorc experimented on were your ancestors." The man stated with certainty.

"That can't be true. If I were sub-human, I'd have some sort of ears or tail." Jill stated arrogantly, causing the man in front of her to hiss.

"Don't ever use that word in front of laguz! They would kill you." The man stated.

"What proof do you have that I'm sub… laguz." Jill said, deciding to humor the crazy man in hopes that he would go away.

"My family used to protect yours." He said.

"Right. I don't believe you."

"Really? You have an unexplainable distaste for iron and steel correct?"

"True…"

"You have always been, more graceful and better balanced then your beorc peers correct?"

"Yes… what does that have to do with anything?"

"Those two things are typical signs of cat laguz. One more question, your family on average never died of old age did they? They always died in battle, correct?"

Jill thought about it for a moment. "You're right. I never noticed it before but every member of my family died in battle or from illness. And they always retained their young looks far after they should have shown signs of age… Wait a second! If your family served mine, that would make you laguz! But you carry beorc weapons. You're lying!"

"No I'm not." The man said as he stood. "I am laguz, but I was exiled from Gallia. My power abandoned me." He said as he lowered his hood. His striking violet eyes glimmered in the moonlight. His long midnight hair was shot though with streaks of violet that matched his eyes, and was tied back in a loose ponytail. He had two black slashes adorning his cheeks. But what confirmed his story were the two black cat ears that poked out of his hair. He fingered his katana belted to his right hip before moving to the twin knives on his left. "I lost my ability to transform and was exiled for it. A laguz that can't change is defenseless, so I took up beorc tools."

"Okay. Let's say I believe you. What does it change? There's now way to reverse the process." Jill said.

"Actually there is. My friend Cryo is a descendent of the family that performed the original spell and he has found a way to undo it."

"And if what you say is true, then why should I trust a member of the family that did this to me?" Jill asked, getting angry at the injustice brought down on her ancestors.

"Because he is branded, half laguz. He was thrown out of his family for what he is and now he seeks to right their wrongs."

Jill didn't know why, but for some reason she felt compelled to believe the laguz. "Alright I believe you. But before I go with you to meet your friend, I want to know your name."

"I am Kumori." He said before turning to walk off. "Come, if we hurry we can correct this wrong tonight."

Kumori led her away from the port city she was supposed to report to in the morning. They traveled deeper into the forest, until Jill spotted the light of a campfire. They entered the clearing to see two people seated on either side of the fire. One was wearing flowing black robes cinched at his waist with a golden sash that marked him as a mage. His obsidian hair was chopped short and spiked above his head. He had a golden diamond in the center of his forehead marking him as the branded. His wine colored eyes met Jill's as they approached. The second man wore a long sleeved black tunic under a dark gray sleeveless shirt. He wore black trousers with holes ripped in the knees and sandals instead of typical traveling boots. He completed the ensemble with a red scarf that hung to his ankles. At his side were a bow and a quiver of arrows. He had a pair of brown hawks wings folded along his back and his shaggy blonde hair was cut at shoulder length. He looked up with brown eyes as Jill entered the clearing.

"Ah, you found her." The mage said as he rose from his seat by the fire.

"Jill, this is Cryo, he is the mage that will return your power to you. The other one is Grim. We don't know his real name but we call him that because he doesn't talk much. He is like me, but don't make a big deal about it." Kumori said as he led Jill over to Cryo. "How long will this take? I was hoping to join Lethe's group before they left."

"It shouldn't take more then a few minutes. Please sit and be very still." Cryo said, indicating Jill should sit. "Don't worry the spell will be completely painless." Cryo reassured her as he drew arcane runes in the dirt around Jill. When he was done, Cryo drew a knife and slashed his left wrist. He walked around the runes, dripping his blood on them. "All of the most powerful spells require some sort of blood sacrifice." He explained as the runes glowed a bright red. Cryo stepped up in front of Jill. "As soon as my blood touches your skin, the spell will activate and your power will be drawn out. This is you last chance to back out." He said solemnly.

"Do it." Jill said.

Cryo stretched his palm over Jill's head and a few drops of his blood dripped across her face. As soon as the blood made contact with her skin, the runes surrounding the two glowed with the intensity of the sun. There was a massive explosion of arcane force, which hurled Cryo back. Grim caught him, saving him from a nasty fall. The light slowly dimmed, leaving Jill sitting in the center of a circle of charred earth. Two red cat ears poked out of her hair and a red tail had torn through her pants. She opened her eyes to reveal her cat-like pupils.

"Wow… Everything looks so much clearer…" Jill said in amazement. She continued to look around, determined to take everything in.

Kumori walked over to her and helped her up. "We need to go. We have to gather your things at your camp and get to the city. We have a mercenary group to find."

"You mean to join Greil's Mercenaries?" Jill asked in shock. "They are enemies of Daein!"

"So are you now." Grim said, before he turned and vanished into the forest.

"He has a point. You asked for it, now you really don't have anywhere else to go, unless you want to venture to Gallia alone." Kumori said.

"No, I think I'll go with you." Jill said, clearly afraid of being alone in Gallia so soon after her transformation. "That way I can have some time to adjust to my new… outlook." She said.

"Wise move. Now we must go. We have a long distance to travel and a short time to do it in." Cryo said as he finished bandaging his wrist.

Several Hours Later

The four of them had not stopped all night. The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon when they finally caught first sight of the city. Jill had decided to forgo her armor, but had donned a tan cloak to hide her new features form the townspeople. She carried her lance in a sure grip as she thought back to the night before. She had decided to release her wyvern; it was too easy to track. She had no worries for the animal though; it would find its way back to her father. They entered the town with no problems and began to search for Greil's Mercenary company. As they passed one of the many taverns in the city, they heard an outbreak of screams from farther down the street.

"Grim, what's happening?" Kumori asked.

The hawk stared for a few moments before answering. "The townspeople have discovered a cat laguz. I believe it is Ranulf. He seems to refuse to fight back."

"Then we must help him!" Kumori said as he turned to dash up the street.

"Hold! A mercenary is dispersing them. It appears to be Greil's son. Let us speak with them." Grim said as he hurried up the street, followed by the rest of the group. As they arrived, one of the townsfolk spotted the arriving Daein soldiers and called out.

"Life can never be easy…" The blue haired teen muttered. "We have to get to the docks."

"I'll distract as many as I can." Ranulf said as he transformed and dashed out of town, prompting several Daein soldiers to follow him.

"Well that's a few less, but what about the rest…"

"Perhaps we can be of assistance." Kumori said as they arrived on the scene.

"Who are…?" Ike began only to be cut off.

"Kumori! I thought you died!" Lethe exclaimed.

"You know each other?" Ike asked.

"We served the king together before he was exiled. But that was years ago."

"Can we catch up later? I believe where we are is about to become very dangerous." Cryo said as he glanced at the advancing Daein soldiers.

"Looks like we'll have to fight our way to the docks. Does that offer for help still stand?" Ike asked.

"Yes. Now can we go?" Kumori asked.

"Alright, let's go!" Ike shouted as Cryo got sick of the advancing spearmen and hurled a large fireball into their midst. The fireball exploded, hurling the soldiers to the ground.

Grim threw his cloak off and took to the sky as he drew his bow. Jill resettled her spear in her grip as more soldiers appeared. All around the Greil Mercenaries were readying weapons. They began to move toward the docks when black armored Daein troops emerged, cutting them off. The Daein troops and the Greil Mercenaries stared at one another for a few seconds until an arrow from above hissed into a spearman's neck, killing him. As if a switch had been flipped, the black armored soldiers charged. Rolf, Kumori and Grim started firing arrows as fast as they could, trying to thin out the numbers before they got too close. More effective at this were Soren and Cryo, as they started hurling spells. Jill took a spot next to Lethe and leveled her lance at their charging foes. Some of the soldiers paused in recognition.

"Miss Jill, what are you doing with them?" One of the Daein soldiers asked.

Lethe looked at Jill and was about to pounce on her when a stray arrow took the hood from her head, revealing her new ears. Lethe immediately calmed down and faced the Daein troops once more.

"I am here because I'm finally doing something for myself instead of my country. You will receive no mercy from me!" Jill shouted as she thrust her lance into the chest of one of the nearby soldiers.

The fighting was intense as the Greil Mercenaries moved toward the docks, but they arrived with little trouble. As their boat sailed out of the harbor, Ike, Titania, and Soren spoke to the new arrivals.

"Why did you help us?" Soren asked, trying to figure out their angle.

"We helped because I was once from Gallia. I only acted as my king would have wanted." Kumori stated.

Titania spoke up. "Now I recognize that lance design. You're from Daein aren't you?" She asked, indicating Jill.

"Originally, yes." Jill said as she pulled her hood down once more. "But things have changed."

"How? Its impossible to turn beorc into laguz." Soren said.

"That is true, but Jill here was never beorc to begin with. Her ancestors were laguz who had their power stolen. I simply retuned what was lost." Cryo replied.

"I'm sure Cryo and Grim here can answer all of your questions, Jill and I must speak with the laguz traveling with you." Kumori said as he grabbed Jill's arm and went in search of Lethe. They found her on the bow of the ship, staring off at the horizon.

"What do you want Kumori?" Lethe asked without turning around.

"I need you help. I need you to help me teach this girl about the beast tribes of Gallia."

"Why should I? You abandoned me in Gallia and never sent news. I thought you had died." Lethe growled.

"I had no choice. After my exile, I became as despised as the branded. No one would talk to me, let alone deliver a message." Kumori said. "I'm sorry that I worried you."

"Worried? I mourned your passing! A laguz without the power is as good as helpless." Lethe snarled.

"There was nothing I could do! I was barred from the country and you would have never accepted a message from a beorc! Any beast tribe laguz knew of my condition and treated me like scum, when they even bothered to acknowledge that I existed at all! I'm sorry that I left you, but what other choice did I have?" Kumori asked.

"If you had asked, I would have gone with you." Lethe said, finally turning to face the two laguz. Kumori was shocked to see tears in her eyes. "I loved you. And for 10 years I had no idea if you were alive or dead."

"I'm truly sorry." Kumori said as he stepped forward and drew Lethe into his arms. "I'm sorry for those 10 years, but I'm here now, and I don't intend to leave for a long time. Not unless Jill leaves." Kumori said. He felt Lethe stiffen at his last words. "Before you get angry, she is a member of the family mine once guarded. I have found her and I intend to keep her safe. That is why I follow her."

Lethe purred softly at Kumori's words. She started slightly when an extra pair of arms wrapped around her.

"I feel for your loss Lethe. I will not force him to leave you again. All I ask is that you help me to learn all I need to know." Jill whispered in Lethe's ear.

"Alright, I'll do it. Let's go below. We can start now."

Saxyguy – Alright that's chapter one. Just a few things to clarify, all of the main pairings have been decided, but if you me good enough reason, I may be talked into changing them. Also, the twin knives Kumori carries are the knives Legolas uses from LOTR, cuz those knives are badass and you all know it! That's all until next time! Ja ne!


	2. Arrival in Begnion

**Chapter 2**

For the next month, Lethe, Kumori, and Jill were always together. They even slept in the same room. Lethe and Kumori taught Jill everything about the laguz; from beast tribe customs, to how to transform, to the best way to fight against the bird tribe. While Jill was quite proficient with her cat form, she still preferred to use her lance. She could often be seen sparring with Kumori while Lethe watched on. Soren and Cryo also became close friends. While Cryo was elated to find another mage to talk spells with, Soren was just happy that he finally had someone on his own level to debate with. They could often be seen discussing the effectiveness of a certain spell over a game of chess. Titania and Cryo also became rather close. They discussed strategy and even swapped stories of the battles they had participated in. The most shocking was when Marcia started talking to Grim. While Marcia talked to everyone, Grim rarely ever spoke, unless it was with her. Every so often the two of them would just take off flying for a time and talk about their respective countries.

Life became routine after a while. That is, until the day that Marcia and Grim came back from one of their flights with a report of raven pirates.

Nasir ordered the helmsman to cut closer to shore in hopes of avoiding them, but they snagged on a reef. Nasir cursed as he spotted black wings on the horizon.

"Looks like we'll have to fight them off before we can free the ship." Ike said. "Good thing we're here. Greil Mercenaries, prepare for battle!" Ike shouted.

The next several minutes were a flurry of activity as the mercenary company prepared weapons and armor. A small force was chosen to defend the deck while the rest guarded Princess Elincia down below.

As the ravens descended on the ship; Marcia and Grim took to the air while Lethe, Kumori, and Jill scaled the mast. Ike drew his sword, Titania readied her hand axe, Soren and Cryo began calling on spells, and Rolf took aim with his bow. The first raven dove at Rolf, only to be pierced by his arrow and fall to the deck. Titania hurled her axe end over end into the next diving bird while Lethe and Jill dove off the mast to drag several ravens down were Ike was waiting. After Lethe and Jill dove from the mast, the ravens swarmed Kumori, only to have Marcia and Grim rip into them from behind while Kumori held them at bay with is katana. Soren and Cryo stood back to back, blasting ravens from the sky with wind and fire spells respectively. A raven swooped down on Jill, slashing with its talons. She blocked the strikes with the haft of her spear, only to have the bird snatch her up and attempt to drag her into the air. She let go of her spear and fell to the deck, landing in a crouch. Her and Lethe transformed and scaled the mast once more. They arrived next to Kumori, only to throw themselves into space once more. Both landed on the back of a raven and broke its neck before leaping to another one. Rolf and Kumori had to pick their shots carefully to avoid hitting the two cats as they tumbled gracefully to the deck. Lethe looked back up just in time to see Kumori struck from behind by a raven and knocked from the mast. Before she could even cry out, he had slung his bow across his back and drew his two knives. Twisting about in midair, he landed feet first on the back of a raven and stabbed both knives into its neck before leaping back to the mast and sliding to the deck. Grim was surrounded on all sides by ravens when one of them suddenly exploded, allowing him to escape and return to the deck to rest.

"Thanks." He said as he landed next to Cryo.

"Anytime." Cryo grunted as he blasted another raven from the sky.

Ike fought desperately as ravens swooped down on him in large groups. One raven got past his guard. As he waited to feel talons ripping into his flesh, the raven suddenly disappeared. He looked to the side to see it pinned to the deck by a javelin. Marcia landed next to Ike a moment later. "We're in trouble. We need to do something or we'll be overrun."

"I know, but what?" Ike said.

Just then several ravens forced Marcia away from Ike and a larger crow swooped down on him. The bird blocked his sword with a talon and slammed into him knocking him to the deck. Ike brought his sword around to block the things stabbing beak. The two strained against one another for a moment before Ike managed to deflect the raven's force. Its beak smashed into the deck and stuck, giving Ike enough time to bring his sword around a thrust it into the bird's neck. Several ravens saw this and cawed in distress before quickly taking wing; leaving Ike's company alone on the deck. They informed Nasir of their victory and they were back under way in short order.

Later that evening, Jill and Kumori were back to sparring again. They fought back and forth for several minutes, neither having a clear advantage thanks to Jill's newfound agility. Knowing she was getting tired, Jill thrust her lance straight at Kumori's chest. Kumori fell back, dropping his right knife to grab the haft of Jill's lance. He pulled her forward as he hit the deck. As she stumbled toward him, Kumori caught her with his foot and rolled back, throwing her over his head. He heard someone cry out and then the thump of two bodies hitting the deck. Kumori looked up and started to laugh. He had thrown Jill directly at Lethe, who had avoided injury by catching Jill and rolling them both to the ground. They ended up with Jill flat on her back with Lethe straddling her hips. Lethe's head snapped up when Kumori started to laugh.

"Haaa… Oops." He said in a small voice as Lethe began to growl at him, completely ignoring the blushing girl below her.

The few people on deck were treated to a rare sight; laguz engaging in combat while in human form. Jill watched her two teachers fight with a smile on her face. After a few minutes of intense sparring, Lethe simply grabbed Kumori and wrestled him to the ground before pinning him, causing Jill to laugh.

"To think, Kumori beats me almost effortlessly every time, and Lethe not only pinned him, but she made it look easy too." Jill said with a chuckle.

"Lethe only won because I didn't want to hurt her." Kumori said, earning a swat from the cat laguz seated on his stomach. Lethe stood and pulled Kumori up after her.

"Let's go below now. It's about time we got some sleep." Lethe said as Jill yawned at stretched like, well, a cat.

"Alright." Kumori replied as they all headed for their joint cabin.

The next morning

Mist poked her head in to wake the trio for breakfast only to find Kumori awake and pinned beneath two sleeping cats, one orange and the other red. Judging by color, Lethe was curled up on his chest and Jill was stretched across his legs.

"H…help… me… ca…can't… breathe…" He sighed, unable to wake the laguz women on his own because his arms were pinned under Lethe.

Taking pity on him, Mist walked over and shook Lethe awake. She yawned and stood before Kumori, with his arms now freed, grabbed her and tossed her to the floor. She landed on her feet and shook her self indignantly, glaring up at the panting man. Jill woke on her own as Kumori shifted to toss Lethe to the floor. Both laguz changed back before they all followed Mist to the mess hall for breakfast. After breakfast, the trio of laguz continued training on the deck. This time, Lethe and Jill sparred in cat form while Kumori looked on. After a few minutes, Rolf came up on deck.

"Kumori, can I ask you a favor?" Rolf asked nervously.

"Sure squirt, what do you need?" Kumori replied.

"Could you help me practice with my bow?"

"No problem. I only got a little while though, after lunch, it's my turn to spar with Jill." Kumori said as he pulled out a piece of paper and drew a target on it. He tacked the paper to the mast and set Rolf at 20 paces. "Now the fastest way to get better is to stay at 20 paces until you can hit the center every time, and then back up. Most people think that how good you are is measured by how far you can shoot, but it's not. The better people hit their targets EVERY time. Now go for it. I'll keep and eye on you to help with your stance and such." Kumori said as he leaned back on the rail to watch Rolf shoot and Lethe and Jill spar. Lunch was a rather quiet affair, Kumori critiqued Rolf's target shooting while Lethe commented on Jill's combat abilities in cat form. After lunch, Rolf practiced on his own while Jill sparred with Kumori. This time, Kumori used his katana against Jill's lance. They fought for half and hour before pausing for a break. Kumori walked over to help Rolf for a few minutes while Lethe and Jill sat side by side on the deck and watched. Without realizing what she was doing, Jill wrapped her tail around Lethe's, causing the orange haired cat girl to blush slightly. Lethe brought their twined tails up and gently caressed Jill's back, causing her to start slightly as she realized where her tail was. Lethe smirked before scooting behind Jill and massaging her scalp behind her ears, causing the red head to purr and fall back against Lethe. They were both starting to get comfortable when Kumori returned. "Looks like you two are starting to get along." He said with a smirk. Lethe smiled while Jill blushed. "We need to get back to training." Kumori said as he drew his katana.

Kumori and Jill sparred until they were too tired to continue. The three retired to their cabin to teach Jill about beast tribe customs. Once again, Jill and Lethe shifted to their cat forms and used Kumori as a bed.

The days slipped by in much the same way. Lethe, Jill, and Kumori became very close friends. Grim and Marcia continued disappearing on flights together, and when they were on the ship, they were always together. The same could be said for Titania and Cryo. After a while, days again became routine, allowing the Greil mercenaries to slip into a semi-complacent state. Two months slipped by in the blink of an eye. One morning, a Begnion Pegasus knight arrived on the ship looking for Elincia. After a short discussion with Begnion's representative, another Pegasus knight flew in with an urgent message for Tanith. After a whispered conversation, Tanith turned to Ike.

"The Apostle became impatient and took a ship out to meet us. They are near here but it will take a little while for my knights to find the ship. I apologize for the inconvenience." Tanith said seeming embarrassed.

After an hour of searching a frantic Pegasus knight flew in. "Commander! We found the Apostle's ship, but it's under attack by pirates and ravens!" The woman exclaimed.

Tanith turned to Elincia. "I hate to ask this, but would you lend aid to driving off the pirates?"

"It's up to Lord Ike. He commands the company." Elincia said.

"I see no problem with helping out. What do you need us to do?" Ike asked.

"I need you to help clear the ships of human pirates while my Pegasus knights hold off the ravens. We only need to hold until Sigrun arrives with reinforcements." Tanith explained.

"Alright, leave the ships to us." Ike said as they changed course to pull up along side Begnion ship.

Lethe, Jill, and Kumori were the first aboard the Begnion ship; simply leaping across the gap between the ships. They were quickly joined by Grim and Marcia as they prepared to face the pirates. Ike and the rest of the boarding crew rapidly set up a ramp and crossed to the Begnion ship. All the fighting stopped at the arrival of Ike and the mercenaries; the pirates wondering if Begnion had called for reinforcements and the Begnion troops wondering if they were more pirates. Their questions were answered when Kumori whipped his bow off his back and shot one of the pirates through the eye. As the pirates charged, intending to overrun the Begnion forces and the new arrivals, Grim, Kumori, and Rolf fired arrows into their midst. Grim took to the sky to continue to shoot while Kumori stepped in front of Rolf and drew his katana. The two forces clashed and the pirates pushed them back for a few steps before Lethe, Jill, and Kumori began to cut into their foes without mercy. After pushing forward several steps the pirates surged around them and cut them off from their lines.

Kumori sheathed his katana and drew his two knives as Jill resettled her lance into a staff-fighter's grip. Lethe crouched down and lunged at the enemy, Kumori and Jill following in her wake. The three were and absolute terror in the battle; especially because Grim and Marcia flew above them, hurling spears and shooting arrows. They pushed their way all the way across the Apostle's ship before they were stopped. They simply redirected their momentum and cut their way back to Ike. Once they regrouped, they focused their assault and cleared the ship. They had just pushed the pirates back to their ship when Sigrun arrived with reinforcements. Elincia met with the Apostle as they sailed for land. They arrived without incident and rooms were prepared for them. After dinner, Kumori, Lethe, and Jill trained for a little bit and then retired for the night.

Saxyguy – So that's the chapter. Sorry bout this one, I didn't like how the end was working out, but couldn't figure out how to fix it… I just cant do large fight scenes to save my life, but small groups of 10 to fifteen… now that I can do. Anyhoo, the next chapter should be better, longer, and have more action. Leave a review if you have any suggestions or anything. Ja ne!


	3. The Apostle's plan

**Chapter 3**

After several days of doing nothing, the normally active Greil Mercenaries were beginning to become bored. Mist was the most vocal about it, but everyone agreed with her. After Sigrun overheard Mist complaining, Apostle Sanaki approached Ike and Elincia about hiring them for a few jobs while they were in Begnion. Apostle Sanaki offered Ike several jobs, and he took them. After accepting the jobs from Sanaki, Ike returned to their temporary barracks to share the news.

Barracks

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Ike called, quickly getting everyone's attention. "Apostle Sanaki has offered us several lucrative jobs while we're here. In order to do all of them, we'll have to split our forces. Titania, you will take this job." Ike said as he handed her a scroll. "Take Marcia, Grim, Lethe, Jill, Kumori, and Cryo with you." Ike said.

When the briefing was over, Titania and her group gathered their equipment and prepared to set out. Their mission was to intercept a group of merchants and confiscate their cargo by force. They departed shortly and made good time to the ambush site. They arrived and started to set up when a thick fog rolled in, causing Titania to curse quietly. "Looks like the mission just got a bit harder… Lethe and Kumori, scout ahead. Report back when they arrive." Titania commanded. Kumori pulled his hood up and Lethe shifted into her cat form before they both vanished into the swirling fog. Several tense minutes of waiting, Kumori and Lethe returned.

"They're here, and they're suspicious." Kumori said. Just then, they heard running footsteps. Everyone spun to face the noise, Kumori already with his bow out and arrow drawn. A man appeared from the fog with a sword held high. He let out a war cry and charged Titania, only to drop with an arrow in his throat.

"Guess that means they know we're here…" Jill said as she pulled her lance from the special harness that held it across her back.

As they moved out, Titania cursed the fog once more. "Blasted fog cuts visibility to almost zero." She grumbled.

Cryo grinned as he raised his arm. "Kumori, what direction is the enemy camp in?" he asked. Kumori pointed slightly to their right and Cryo brought his arm down, calling forth a massive fire spell, burning off the fog and torching a few mercenaries while he was at it. Lethe, Titania, Jill, and Marcia charged at the enemy camp while Kumori and Grim rained arrows down on their camp and Cryo hurled spells. When they neared the camp, Lethe threw herself at an axe wielding fighter. She slammed into his chest and knocked him to the ground before ripping his throat out with her teeth. As the man beneath gurgled and died, Lethe leaped to her next victim. Titania reached the camp next and brought her axe down on a myrmidon's head, splitting his skull. She ripped her axe free and twisted in the saddle to hurl her axe end over end into another man's chest. She trotted her horse over to his body and dismounted to retrieve her hand axe, ripping it free with a spurt of blood. Marcia swooped down and landed on a soldier, crushing him beneath her mount's hooves. Two fighters appeared on either side of her in an attempt to pull her from the saddle. She ran one through and the other disappeared in a burst of flame. Marcia looked over to see Jill use her lance to vault over a group of enemies. She landed in the center of the group and redirected her momentum into a quick spin, cutting down the men surrounding her.

Jill looked back at the hill they had come from just in time to see Kumori draw his knives to hold off the group charging at him and Cryo. She screamed for Lethe before shifting forms and sprinting towards the hill to help.

Kumori was in trouble and he knew it. Grim flew over the charging group and shot down three of the front-runners and they didn't even slow down. Cryo threw his last two spells into their midst, incinerating several, and it still didn't faze them. The large man at the head of the pack raised his axe above his head and brought it down, intending to cut Kumori in half. He sidestepped the man's swing and stabbed him in the arm, blocking a strike from a swordsman. He jerked his knife free of the berserker's arm and spun, knocking a lance thrust off course before slashing his attacker's throat. He ducked and axe and launched himself into his attacker's stomach. Rolling to his feet, he caught a boot to his chest that sent him down on his back. Kumori looked up at the berserker standing over him, knowing full well he was about to die. The man grinned before raising his axe above his head. As he started to bring the axe down, a red and orange ball of fur, fangs, and claws slammed into his side, sending him to the ground. When the man stopped struggling, Lethe and Jill stepped back and returned to their human forms. Even after shifting, they were still covered in blood. They quickly gathered up the boxes the men had been transporting and headed back to report to Apostle Sanaki.

When they returned, they turned over the boxes to the Pegasus knights and Titania gave her report to the Apostle. Once that was accomplished, they were free to relax until Ike and the rest returned. Kumori, Lethe, and Jill immediately returned to their quarters. While Kumori sat down with a book, Lethe and Jill worked on cleaning the blood from themselves. Once they were finished, Lethe sat down on the couch across from Kumori.

Hearing a loud purr, Kumori looked up from his book and smirked. Jill sat facing him on the floor in front of Lethe. Her eyes were closed as Lethe ran her fingers through the former wyvern rider's hair. As he watched, Jill gently wound her tail around Lethe's right calf. Lethe caught Kumori watching them and smiled at him before freeing one of her hands from Jill's hair and beckoning him over. He stood and approached the couch. He was about to sit down when Jill's and caught his tail and gently pulled. He looked down and she pointed to the floor in front of her.

"Sit. I've wanted to play with your hair since I met you. Now I have a chance." Jill commanded. Kumori let out a suffering sigh and sat on the floor in front of Jill. He went back to reading his book as Jill tangled her hands in his hair. He found it hard to concentrate on his book as Jill massaged his scalp. Sighing in surrender, Kumori put down his book and closed his eyes as he slouched down and leaned his head back onto Jill's lap. Jill poked the tip of one of his ears, causing it to twitch. Jill chuckled to herself and poked his ear again. Kumori growled in frustration before his hands lashed out and grabbed Jill behind the neck and pulled her down to mash his lips against hers. Jill squeaked in surprise as their lips met. She tried to pull back for an instant before relaxing and returning the kiss.

Lethe tugged gently on Jill's hair, causing her to sit back up. Jill looked up at Lethe curiously. "Enjoying yourself, are you?" Lethe said with a smirk, causing Jill to blush. "I'll take that as a yes. Now there's only one little problem, I'm feeling a little left out." Lethe said as she leaned down close to Jill.

"L…Lethe… what are you…" Jill stammered before Lethe cut her off.

"I know what you think of me. That's one thing we haven't taught you. When a laguz as romantic feelings toward another laguz, we touch each other, mostly with our tails."

"And that has what to do with how you think I feel?" Jill asked, still blushing.

"Do you even know what your tail is doing?" Lethe asked, pointing to her right leg. Jill looked down and somehow managed to blush even deeper.

"Oh…umm… Sorry about that…" Jill said in a small voice. She started to unwind her tail from Lethe's leg when Lethe grabbed her tail and held it in place.

"Who said I didn't welcome the attention?" Lethe said in a teasing voice as she brought her tail up to caress Jill's face. She leaned down and licked Jill's cheek. "You probably didn't know this, but Kumori and I used to be engaged. The engagement was dissolved when he was exiled from Gallia, but after that, I never took another. Honestly I never thought that I could care for anyone else like him, but it seems as though I was wrong."

"I suppose this means I have to share you now." Kumori said jokingly.

"I could ask you the same question." Lethe replied, reminding Kumori of his earlier action with Jill.

Kumori smirked and turned toward the couch. Rising to his knees, he leaned in and kissed Lethe passionately. "Feeling better?"

"Almost." Lethe said before spinning around and slipping in between Kumori and Jill, and sitting in Jill's lap. Her tail wrapped around Kumori's waist as she leaned forward and gave Jill a searing kiss. Jill's eyes grew wide before she melted into Lethe's lips. Lethe felt Kumori's arms wrap around her waist before he kissed the side of her neck, causing her to purr contently.

"Well isn't this cute." Cryo said from the doorway, causing all three laguz to jump. "Ike wants to talk to all of us that went on the mission with Titania." He said before turning and walking away.

Kumori stood and began to belt on his weapons before donning his cloak and shouldering his bow and arrows.

"Why is it that you always take your weapons whenever you leave the room?" Jill asked as she donned her tan traveling cloak and pulled her hood up. They had decided to remain somewhat inconspicuous so they wouldn't start trouble.

"You and Lethe don't need to worry about weapons because you can transform… I cannot, so I need to remain prepared." Kumori said. "I learned that lesson the hard way." He finished grimly. "When we have the time, I'll tell you the story, it happened in Daein."

Lethe cringed as she picked up her own cloak. "So the laguz hunts in Daein aren't a myth?"

Kumori looked away. "No they are not." He said before walking out of the room.

They hurried through the halls, rapidly catching up to Cryo. "What does Ike need to talk to us about?" Kumori asked.

"Evidently, he suspects that laguz slavery is alive and well in the noble houses of Begnion. He has spoken with Apostle Sanaki about it and she intends to do something about it, but she needs us to do it." Cryo replied as they arrived at the room Ike was using as a briefing room. "He wants to know if we spotted anything off during our last mission."

"Now that you mention it, those crates we confiscated smelled like laguz…" Jill said, suddenly feeling sick.

"Don't worry Jill, we're gonna do something about it." Kumori said as they entered the briefing room.

Ike asked them all the same questions Cryo had asked, and they answered them the same way. After the debriefing, Ike told them when their next mission was. Then he dismissed them. They returned to their rooms and prepared to turn in for the night. As Kumori, Jill, and Lethe prepared for the night, Jill remembered something.

"Kumori, you said when we had time; you would tell us why you always carry your weapons." Jill said.

Kumori's expression darkened. "Alright, I suppose you have a right to know. It was shortly after I had been exiled. I was young and foolish to think I would get away with hiding in the mountains on Daein's boarder. I joined a small group of laguz living in hiding. I was out checking our trap line when I was attacked. In my arrogance I had left my weapons at our camp. There were five of them, all carrying swords." Kumori said as he rolled up his sleeves, revealing a complicated pattern of scars crisscrossing his forearms. "I couldn't transform so I was forced to fight all five barehanded. I managed to avoid serious injury for several minutes and began to get cocky, thinking them to be incompetent. One of them got lucky and gashed my left arm from wrist to elbow. The wound slowed me down, allowing them to land many more." He continued as he lifted his shirt. There was a large scar running from his left shoulder to his right hip. "One of the soldiers slashed me across the chest and I fell. They assumed I was dead and left after hanging me from a tree by my wrists. I somehow worked my way free and crawled back to the camp. They treated my wounds and nursed me back to health. I had just recovered enough to start working again when they discovered the camp. I was smarter this time and was carrying my weapons. I managed to fight my way out, but not before taking an arrow through the shoulder." He said indicating a scar on his right shoulder. "I ran for days before I crossed the Daein-Crimea boarder. That's when I met Cryo and Grim. They helped me through my recovery and we decided to stick together. We worked as traveling mercenaries, taking any job we could get. Then Cryo told me about his family's history with the laguz. Then we started searching for you." Kumori said, nodding to Jill. "After several months, we found you. You know the rest." He finished.

Jill started to cry. She grabbed the front of his shirt and leaned into him. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" She sobbed into his shirt.

"Why? You didn't do it." Kumori said.

"But I knew the people who did. They… they bragged about killing a sub-human in the mountains and I… I congratulated them…" She cried, soaking Kumori's shirt.

"Shhh… you didn't know. It's okay." Kumori said, wrapping his arms around her. Lethe pressed herself against Jill's back, wrapping her arms around her and nuzzling her neck. Jill calmed down and started to purr. "I lived and I'm here with you both now. That's the only thing that matters." He whispered as he guided Jill and Lethe to the bed. "Let's get some sleep now."

The Next Morning

Consciousness returned to Jill slowly. The first thing she realized was that she was pressed up against two warm objects on either side of her. She wrapped her arms around the object in front of her and drew it closer while snuggling back into the object behind her. She slowly opened her eyes to see Lethe's face; relaxed as she slept. Jill couldn't resist; she moved in a pressed her lips to Lethe's. Lethe's eyes snapped open before she relaxed once more. Her eyes took on a mischievous glint as she slid her tongue across Jill's lips. Jill moaned quietly as Lethe snuck her tongue into her mouth.

Lethe pulled back. "Good morning to you to." She said with a grin. Jill growled at her before pulling her back in for another kiss.

Jill's growl woke Kumori. "Now this is and interesting scene to wake up to." He commented, resting his chin on Jill's shoulder to see what they were doing. "I wouldn't mind waking up to this more often." He said with a smirk.

Lethe pulled away from Jill. "If you play your cards right, that's a good possibility." She said with a smile.

There was a loud banging from the door, giving them enough time to sit up before Cryo and Titania walked in. "Well at least they weren't kissing this time." The black haired mage teased. "Rolf is looking for you Kumori. He said something about helping him with his archery."

"I have two questions for you." Kumori shot back as he quickly dressed. "One: how is it that you always manage to sneak up on me? And two: why do I never see either one of you without the other anymore?"

"To answer your questions, you are horribly unobservant of anything you don't think is a threat to your health, and that's because Titania requested my help as an aide; kinda like Soren to Ike." Cryo replied. "Now hurry up. We have a job to do later this afternoon, and yes, it requires all three of you." Cryo said as the Kumori started belting on his weapons and Lethe and Jill rapidly dressed. The three of them grabbed their cloaks and followed Cryo to the courtyard.

After Kumori had a quick session with Rolf, Titania explained their job. "Alright. Apostle Sanaki wants us to hunt down the remaining slave traders from the other day. We're taking the same group as last time. Ike and the rest are going after a group of desert thieves."

"Okay, when do we leave?" Lethe asked.

"As soon as everyone's ready." Cryo replied.

Saxyguy – Yay! I'm done with another chappie! Hope you guys like the story. Anywhoo, for those of you who think I'm moving a bit fast on the relationships, remember, there's a several month gap that's totally undocumented in this story. Well leave a review please. Ja ne!


	4. Bandits!

**Chapter 4**

Saxyguy – I return once more with a new chapter! I just realized that I never put a disclaimer on this fic so here it is. **I DON'T OWN FIRE EMBLEM! **If I did, I would not only be rich, but much happier. That and I wouldn't waste time writing fan fics.

Kumori, Jill, and Lethe stalked through the woods, searching for the survivors of the mercenary band from yesterday. A twig snapped and all three froze. They slowly turned toward the noise to see Cryo looking sheepish. Kumori signaled Lethe and Jill to stay still as he slipped over to talk to Cryo. The two men crouched near a tree. "Did you find something?" Kumori whispered.

"No, I was sent to check on you three." Cryo replied silently. Just then, an arrow hissed into the trunk of the tree in between them. Cryo unwrapped the paper around the shaft and scanned it before passing it to Kumori.

_Found the remaining bandits. Immediately north of your position. Seven guards around the camp and regular patrols. Approach with caution._

Kumori sighed. _'This is going to be a bit of a challenge…' _He thought. His ears perked up as he heard something slicing through the air at high speed. He pulled his bow off his back and snatched the arrow from the air before sending it right back the way it came. There was a scream and the sound of breaking branches as an enemy archer fell from the trees. "Looks like we've been discovered." Kumori said as the sound of hooves reached his ears.

Titania brought her horse to a stop next to them as Jill and Lethe vanished into the underbrush. "Looks like we get to do things the hard way." Titania said as another arrow deflected off her armor. "I'll go in first as point, Marcia will follow me. Lethe and Jill, you two come next. Grim will worry them from the air while Cryo catches the ones that try to run. Kumori, I'm sure you'll find a way to fit in." Titania ordered before she turned her horse and galloped off toward the enemy camp. Titania thundered forward, ignoring the arrows bouncing off her armor. Cryo spied a mage raising his hand. The poor man never stood a chance, disappearing in a fireball before his arm came down to throw his spell. Marcia swooped in after Titania, deftly rolling and looping to dodge arrows as she lashed out with her lance.

There was a scream from the treetops followed by the sound of branches breaking once more as another archer fell to the ground, this time with Lethe latched onto his chest. Jill dashed by her and skewered a bandit trying to sneak up on her mate before ripping her lance free and snapping the blunt end up into a charging man's jaw. As he stumbled back, two arrows thudded into his chest as Kumori took a few steps forward as he shot, placing himself between Cryo and the main fighting. Kumori looked up in time to see Grim shoot by over head, gracefully banking and looping to avoid branches and arrows while returning his own shots. Kumori called out as an arrow sped towards Grim's back in a way he couldn't possibly evade. At the last second, Grim twirled in midair and snatched the arrow out of the sky before returning it to the sender with deadly accuracy.

Cryo picked his targets carefully, focusing on the edges of the fight and any mages he happened to spot. He glanced over at Titania to see her surrounded. "Damn." He cursed as he whipped out his knife and nicked his palm before throwing his injured hand out in an arc toward Titania. Half of the bandits circling her suddenly exploded into white hot flames, allowing her to fight her way free. Titania heard a low chant from her left and twisted her saddle to hurl her short ax end over end into the mage's chest. Several men charged, thinking her unarmed. She reared her horse and the beast struck out with its hooves, giving her enough time to draw another ax.

Titania looked around to check on the battle to see Marcia spin into a barrel roll to avoid an arrow and stab several men below her at the same time. She continued to look around and saw Lethe and Jill surrounded but quickly realized they had the situation well in hand. Jill ducked a swing from one man and Lethe turned around and leaped into his chest, driving him to the ground and ripping his throat out in a spurt of blood. Jill whipped around and stabbed the guy Lethe had been fighting before deflecting a strike from another bandit. They fought back to back for a while before one man managed to get under Jill's guard. As his sword approached her, she felt something shove her back as Kumori arrived and stabbed the man in the chest with the arrow in his hand before shooting the bandit behind him in the face. He slung his bow back across his back as the next man stepped forward to swing at him. Kumori hopped back and sucked in his gut to avoid the strike as he drew his katana. He opened the man from shoulder to hip before he spun forward, slicing two more across the throat as he went.

As Kumori cut into the bandits like a demon, an archer in the trees took a bead on him. The archer let his arrow fly and it struck Kumori, sending him stumbling back to the ground. The man he had been fighting stepped forward with his sword held high, only to have an ax sprout from his chest. Titania galloped by and leaned almost out of her saddle to retrieve her ax and continued on her way.

The archer in the trees smiled at his success, only to see Grim appear in front of him and slam into him feet first, kicking him from the tree, as he fell, Grim rained arrows down on him, piercing every non-vital point he could before the man hit the ground. Grim swooped after him and landed next to the man to discover that he was still breathing. He ripped one of his arrows out of the man's body and shot another with it. The archer screamed as arrow after arrow was ripped from his flesh. Grim tore his last arrow free and fired it into the man's skull, ending his miserable existence. Grim turned to Kumori only to see every bandit in his way, and a few that weren't, explode into white hot flames. Grim hurried over to Kumori to check on his friend, only to have him sit up as he arrived.

"Ouch." Kumori muttered as he looked at the arrow sticking out of his shoulder. Just then, Jill spotted Grim kneeling over Kumori and sprinted over, followed by Lethe. The two laguz held off the surrounding bandits as Grim helped Kumori to his feet. Kumori drew one of his knives and bit down on the handle as he ripped the arrow from his shoulder. He wiped the head of the arrow off and added it to his quiver before reaching into one of his belt pouches and pulling out a roll of bandages. He swiftly bandaged his shoulder before drawing his katana once more.

They had finished off most of the rest of the bandits when a man stepped out of a tent. The man was enormous and carried a huge ax. Titania charged the man, who simply lowered his shoulder and knocked her horse off its hooves. Marcia swooped in next, hurling a javelin at the man, slicing a neat line across his cheek. Next to attack was Grim. He fired arrows into the man's arms as he flew by. The man shrugged the arrows off as if they were bee stings. Jill was next to charge in. As she did, Lethe snuck up behind him and sank her teeth into his ankle. The man looked down as Lethe bit him, he looked back up in time to see Jill's lance enter his chest. The berserker's eyes grew wide as he slowly fell to his knees. Jill stood over him, staring down at the man as the life left his eyes. Titania arrived leading her horse.

"Good job. Lets take a look around and see if they had any laguz here." Titania said as they spread out to search for clues.

A short time later, they came to the conclusion that there were no laguz slaves in the camp. Titania ordered them to return to their temporary barracks and wait for Ike to return from his mission.

Titania and Cryo sat in Titania's room pouring over supply reports. Cryo yawned loudly as he stretched. Titania looked at him in curiosity. "Bored?" She asked.

"Just a bit. Let's take a break and play some chess." Cryo said as he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a chess set.

"Alright." Titania said. "Care to make a wager on the game?" She asked with a smirk.

"Like what?" Cryo asked.

"If I win, I chose what we do next. If you win, you chose." Titania said, still smirking.

Cryo had a sudden chill run through him. _'Why do I suddenly feel intimidated?' _"Alright. I'll take that bet." Cryo said as they set up the board.

20 minutes later

"Checkmate." Titania said with a smirk as she set her rook down with an air of finality.

"Well it looks like I lose then… what do you want to do?" Cryo asked.

Titania rose from her seat and stepped around the table before leaning down to Cyro's eye level. "This." She said before she kissed him.

Cryo sat stunned for a moment before returning the kiss. They kissed passionately for several seconds before they separated for air. "What was that for?" Cryo asked.

"You didn't like it? Guess I'll have to try harder on the next one…" Titania said before sealing her lips to his again. This time, she slipped her tongue into his mouth. Titania pulled back. "You complete me. On the battlefield and off." Titania said. "You always know what needs to be done and you're always willing to do it." She continued before kissing him again.

The door banged open before Kumori walked in. "Hey Cryo, I have a… OH MY GOD!" Kumori exclaimed. By this time, Titania, sick of leaning over, had sat in Cryo's lap.

Cryo pulled away from Titania. "Little busy. Come back later." Was all he managed to get out before Titania had his mouth otherwise occupied.

Kumori stepped out of the room and closed the door before turning to face Lethe and Jill. "And he complained at us…" Kumori muttered as he led Lethe and Jill to their room.

"Wait, you mean Titania and Cryo are…?" Jill asked.

"I'd definitely say that they are together." Kumori said. "Judging by that impressive kiss I just walked in on." Lethe and Jill stepped closer to Kumori and wrapped their tails around his waist. Kumori draped his uninjured right arm across Jill's shoulders while he wrapped his tail around Lethe's waist. "I take it you want something?" Kumori asked as Jill and Lethe dragged him off to their room.

"How'd you guess?" Lethe asked as she opened the door to their room and pulled the two of them in. Lethe spun around and closed the door with her back before pulling Kumori into a kiss. Jill threw off her cloak and pressed herself against Kumori's back, nipping gently at his neck. As she kissed along his neck, Jill's hands unclasped Kumori's cloak and tossed it over with hers. Kumori turned around and mashed his lips against Jill's. Lethe leaned against the wall for a second, catching her breath, before she threw off her own cloak and started to unbuckle Kumori's weapon belts.

Kumori twitched, but checked his natural reaction to lash out at whoever tried to disarm him; focusing instead on ravishing Jill. He felt the familiar weight of his weapons disappear and Lethe stepped back for a moment before she pressed herself against his back once more. Lethe reached around him and caressed his chest.

Outside

Grim was walking by Kumori's room on his way to the courtyard so he could stretch his wings when he heard a noise from the room. Curious, he stepped closer and listened again. He heard a loud moan and was about to open the door to check on them when he realized who had made the noise. He blushed deep scarlet as Jill moaned again.

"Hey, Grim." Marcia said as she walked up. Grim grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the door. "What's wrong?"

"Trust me, you don't want to be anywhere near that room right now. Let's go flying." Grim said as he pulled Marcia towards the stables.

Back inside Kumori's room

The three laguz had moved to the bed and Jill was currently sandwiched between Lethe and Kumori. Somewhere in their activities, Jill had lost her shirt, though she couldn't bring herself to care where the restrictive article of clothing had gone. She moaned as Kumori gently palmed one of her breasts. She felt a smaller hand grope the other and she moaned once more. She reached out and grabbed Kumori by the hair and pulled him forward to kiss him. She smirked into their kiss as she had an idea. She let Kumori dominate their kiss and focused on her tail. She slowly worked it up one of Lethe's legs to her panties. With a little bit of fumbling, she managed to slip her tail into Lethe's moist slit, causing her to hiss in surprise. Jill had just started working on Kumori's shirt when there was a loud banging at the door, causing all three of them to curse softly.

"Who is it?" Kumori called, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice.

Cryo poked his head in the door. "Looks like you three were having fun. Ike's back. He brought some new recruits. He wants us all down in the courtyard." Cryo said before retreating from the room.

"Damn…" Kumori muttered as he rose from the bed and straightened his cloths. Lethe and Jill followed suit as the three of them dressed rapidly.

Courtyard

The Greil Mercenaries assembled in the courtyard. Ike stood next to four people. One was obviously a tiger laguz, another was a young boy dressed as a mage, the third was a tall man with shocking green hair, and the fourth was a woman. She appeared to be a cat laguz, but she carried a sword similar to the green haired man standing next to her.

"Alright people, this is Tormond, a mage and the leader of the laguz liberation army in Begnion. This is his associate Muarim, a tiger laguz. This is Stefan, a swordmaster of great skill, and his associate Lyndis." Ike said pointing to each person in turn. Tormond was a mage wearing an orange cape. Standing next to the boy was a mountain of a man. He had green hair and matching ears. Stefan had brighter green hair and wore a sword at his hip. He carried himself like someone who was ready for everything. The woman next to him had jet black hair with green streaks. Hear ears and tail were the same color green. She two wore a sword like she knew how to use it. "They will be joining the company." Ike said

Saxyguy – Woot! New chapter for all you who see my fanfics as crack! Be sure to leave a review! Ja ne!


	5. Duke Oliver and Reyson's plan

**Chapter 5**

Grim and Marcia stood in the courtyard watching Rolf practice with Kumori. Jill and Lethe sat underneath a nearby tree, absently touching each other with their tails. Cryo and Titania sat at a table near the edge of the courtyard playing chess and talking in hushed tones. Soren and Lyndis appeared, talking continuously.

"Well it seems Soren finally found someone to talk to other than Cryo and Ike." Grim commented.

"Did you know the women had a pool on weather or not he was gay?" Marcia said with a giggle.

"Really? I hope they don't have one for me…" He replied with a smirk.

"Nope, I made sure of that." Marcia said.

"How?" Grim asked a bit suspiciously.

"I just asked them what they thought the two of us got up to when we disappeared for hours on end, just the two of us."Marcia said innocently.

"But all we do is talk." Grim reminded her.

"I know, but they don't. Now are we gonna go flying or what?" Marcia asked as she headed for the stables.

Cryo and Titania watched them go before returning their attention back to their game of chess. "Check." Titania said as she set he queen down.

Cryo smirked as he took her queen with his rook. "Checkmate." He said.

"How did you…?" Titania asked as she looked over the board, realizing what she had missed.

"You've become suddenly worse at this ever since you developed your habit of getting lost in my eyes every time we sit across from one another." Cryo said, now smiling full out.

"Now you're just making fun of me." Titania teased.

Lethe and Jill watched the two almost lovers bicker good naturedly back and forth. "They act like an old married couple." Jill commented.

"I guess you didn't see what they were doing when Kumori walked in on them yesterday?" Lethe asked.

"I meant when in public." Jill amended as they returned their focus to Kumori coaching Rolf.

An hour slipped by with no one noticing. Grim and Marcia had just returned when Ike entered the courtyard. "Everyone gather." Ike called. He waited until everyone had gathered around him to speak. "The Apostle has another job for us. She suspects one of her Dukes, Duke Oliver to be exact, of holding laguz slaves. She wants a neutral party to bring this to the attention of the senate, so she chose one she could trust. We got the job. We need to inspect Duke Oliver's residence on the edge of the old Serenes forest and report our findings. Before I let you go to get prepared, move with caution in Oliver's house. I don't trust him. This can be an easy job, but that doesn't mean you should let your guard down. Dismissed."

Almost an hour later, they all set out. The group Ike had brought consisted of Titania, Soren, Cryo, Kumori, Lethe, Jill, Marcia, Grim, Stefan, Volke, Lyndis, Mist, Oscar, and Rolf. They traveled for nearly three hours before reaching the edge of Duke Oliver's estate. "Alright, when we search, we will divide into groups of three. I will take Titania and Cryo with me. Soren, you take Lyndis and Mist. Kumori, take Lethe and Jill with you. Marcia, you take Grim and Volke. Oscar, take Rolf and Stefan. Be careful." Ike cautioned as they approached the Duke's manor. They arrived and informed Oliver of their intentions. He allowed them to search as they pleased. Ike's group searched the grounds, Kumori and Soren's groups searched the first floor, Oscar searched the second floor, and Marcia's checked the towers and roof.

As Ike, Titania, and Cryo searched; he felt an increasing sense of approaching danger. He suddenly spun around in time to see several of Duke Oliver's personal guard step out of one of the nearby outbuildings and charge toward them. Ike calmly drew his sword. "Cryo, signal the others that we're under attack." He said.

Cryo nodded and hurled a ball of fire into the sky. The ball reached the height of the roof tops and exploded into sparks with a loud boom, signaling their teams inside as well. Ike and Titania set themselves up in front of Cryo.

Grim, Volke, and Marcia all looked in the direction of the ball of fire just in time to see it explode. Just after it exploded, a door next to Volke opened. He grabbed the first soldier in line and flipped him over his shoulder. As he knelt to finish the man on the ground, an arrow hissed over his shoulder and took down the next soldier. Volke pulled his knife free and spun to face the door to see several soldiers step forward. Volke took several steps back to allow them onto the roof. They took the bait and followed him out. Marcia landed in the middle of their group, running one though, trampling several more and sending the rest sprawling. Volke took the opportunity to finish off several more before they got up. Grim landed above the door and shot several more. Before any of them could even return to their feet, the trio had finished them all.

Oscar turned toward the window as he heard the explosion. Rolf rushed to the window and looked out.

"That's the signal! Ike's group is under attack!" He shouted.

The door to the room they were in burst inward and several soldiers stepped through. Rolf spun around and shot the first one to move. Oscar stood next to him and drew his own bow back and shot the next one to step forward. The rest of the soldiers hesitated for a moment, and that's a moment too long against an opponent like Stefan. Rolf and Oscar were struck dumb by his amazing display of swordsmanship as he barreled into the soldiers at the door and killed them all with little wasted movement. Stefan poked his head out the door, only to jerk it back as two arrows thudded into the door where his head had been.

"There's more of them." He deadpanned as he slammed the door.

Stefan stepped to the side as the door was slammed open once more. Rolf and Oscar took down the first two then Stefan stepped around in front of them once more to stem the tide of foes trying for force their way in. he fought spectacularly for several seconds, but even he was getting worried about the sheer number of men he faced. His concern vanished as two arrows streaked over his shoulders and dropped two men farther back. Stefan smiled as he cut into his foes with renewed vigor.

Kumori and Soren's groups had paused to formulate a plan to search the massive first floor when an explosion sounded from outside. Kumori and Soren peeked out a nearby window to see a shower of sparks slowly falling to earth.

"Looks like Ike was right about Duke Oliver…" Soren commented.

Just then, the doors at either end of the hallway they were in burst open and they found themselves trapped. Kumori pulled his bow off his back as Lethe transformed and Jill readied her lance. Soren flipped open his book of wind and prepared his spells as Lyndis stepped in front of him with her sword drawn. Soren unleashed the stored power of his spell and blasted it down the hall, slicing into the flesh of the first several soldiers. As they fell, the ones behind them pushed forward and over them, advancing down the hall toward Soren. Lyndis charged at them, raising her sword vertically on the right side of her face. She swatted one man's spear aside and, following the momentum of her swing, spun to the left, ducking a sword strike. As she came up out of her spin, she slashed the two soldiers that had attacked her across the stomach. She used her tail to grab one of the men's belt knives and flicked it into her left hand before throwing it end over end into an ax toting soldier's neck. She glanced back to see Lethe trip a charging soldier before Kumori shot him down. While she was distracted, two guards slipped by her unnoticed. Soren dropped one as Kumori turned around and shot the other through the eye. Lyndis slowly gave ground in front of the pressing force of her enemies. In a flash, Kumori was next to her, cutting men down with his katana. The two of them regained the ground Lyndis had lost while Soren threw wind spells over their heads. Lethe and Jill were doing just fine despite the loss of Kumori's support. They had pushed the soldiers back to the door they had entered through and were simply killing the ones that tried to enter the hall. One javelin thrower got lucky and nicked Jill across the ribcage. Even as she began to stumble, Mist was already there, healing the minor wound before returning to her place next to Soren. Kumori and Lyndis had the same situation on the other end of the hall. Now all they had to do was wait for one of the other groups to come get them.

Ike and Titania were hard pressed to keep the soldiers away from Cryo so he could continue to hurl his spells. Soon, they found themselves surrounded. Cryo whipped out his knife with a sigh.

"Didn't think I'd have to use this today…" He muttered as he placed the blade against his forearm. Titania glanced over in time to see him gash his forearm.

"What are you doing?" She shouted over the clash of weapons.

Cryo seemed to concentrate for a moment before the ground around him turned cherry red. He thrust both arms over his head and magma shot from the ground around him, flowing in rivulets around him in the air. His eyes snapped open and he threw his injured arm out toward the soldiers in front of him. Some of the rivulets around him redirected with his movement and launched toward the soldiers, causing them to cry out in panic. With monumental mental effort, he twisted all the rivulets into one stream and directed it around the three of them, clearing the area of enemies. Titania sat on her horse, amazed at the display of sheer power before her. Once the last soldier was dead, the magma retreated underground, leaving Cryo standing unsteadily. Titania leaped from her saddle and caught him as he fell. She carried him back to her horse and pulled out a roll of bandages and swiftly bandaged his arm as Ike kept an eye out for more soldiers. Once she finished, she sat him on her horse and climbed up behind him.

Ike turned to her. "Let's go. We probably weren't the only ones attacked." Ike said. They hurried to the front door and through, listening for sounds of battle. They weren't disappointed either. Ike spotted a group of soldiers hustling through a door on their left, and they followed them. They came up behind a group of soldiers surrounding a door. Cryo had regained consciousness by this time and peered through the door.

"Soren and Kumori's groups are in there. They have both ends of the hall blocked off, so they can't escape."

"Can you do what you did in the garden again?" Ike asked.

"No. I have to be outside for that particular spell to work, and blood magic takes a lot out of me. It's actually rather unusual for me to be awake this soon after using that one." Cryo explained quietly. "I can do one more minor blood magic before I'm out." Cryo said as he drew his knife. He nicked his palm and threw it out toward the soldiers. White hot flames sprouted from the floor to consume them before dying down. "That's it. Now I'm down to normal spells." Cryo said as he gasped for breath.

Ike dashed through the door to meet with Soren. They withdrew through the door and back to the main hall. "Where is Oscar's group?" Ike asked.

"They were still on the second floor when we were attacked. Marcia's group was on the roof searching the towers." Soren said. Just after he finished something hit the ground just outside the front door. Ike opened the door to find Volke crouched down, panting for breath.

Quickly regaining his composure, Volke spoke. "We found a heron royal in one of the towers. Follow me and I'll lead you to the room from the inside." He said before making a bee-line for the stairs.

"We have to retrieve Oscar's team on the way." Ike said as they ascended the stairs. Oscar was simple to find, they had holed up in a room within sight of the top of the stairway. After a quick fight, they freed the trapped mercenaries and continued up the tower, leaving Oscar, Titania, Cryo, and Mist to keep an eye on things. They climbed the stairs quickly and found themselves at a wooden door. Volke crouched down and unlocked it before pushing it open. They entered the room to see Oliver down with Marcia standing over him while Grim tried to reason with the heron near the other window.

"You may keep whatever company you wish Daniel, but I will not suffer the presence of _humans_ any longer." The man said as he turned and leaped out the window.

"Reyson, wait!" Grim shouted as he ran to the window and watched him vanish toward the burned scar of land that used to be Serenes forest.

"Who's Daniel?" Kumori asked.

"Daniel is the name I left in Phoenicis when I was exiled." Grim said as he hung his head. "Reyson and I were childhood friends and I thought I could convince him to return under our protection to tell the Apostle what this man did to him, but I was wrong." Grim finished.

"Speaking of Oliver, where is the fat beorc?" Lethe asked. Marcia smacked her forehead when she realized she had slipped up. They all looked to the back wall to see a secret doorway swing closed.

"No worries, he'll be headed for Serenes forest as well. We can capture him later." Ike said.

"There is one who can sway Reyson away from the path he is on." Grim said.

"And what path would that be?" Ike asked.

"He means to use the chants of his tribe to bring destruction down on Begnion. To do so would destroy his internal balance, and in the process drive him mad. I must return to Phoenicis and ask Tibarn for help."

Saxyguy – Cliffhanger of Doom! Will Grim manage to recruit Tibarn's help? Or will the hawk tribe kill him for breaking the exile? Tune in next time to find out! Ja ne!


	6. Enter the Hawk King

**Chapter 6**

"Grim, you can't go back! They'll kill you!" Kumori said. "You're the one who told me your banishment was absolute. If they catch you even _talking _to another hawk they'll kill the both of you."

"Maybe not. Tibarn is a good friend of Reyson, and if I know Reyson like I once did, he came here trusting Naesala and was set up. He probably didn't even tell Tibarn were he was going." Grim said. "So if I can tell them that I bring news on Reyson's whereabouts, they shouldn't kill me."

"Is there any way to get the hawk king to come here without putting you in danger?" Ike asked.

"It's a long shot, but give me a minute." Grim said as he pulled out a specially made arrow and flew out the window and high into the air. They watched as he lit the arrow on fire and shot it straight up before flying back to them. "There." He said.

"How does that help?" Soren asked.

"There is a young hawk by the name of Janaff that works closely with the king. He is called the kings eyes, and for good reason too. He can spot a mouse clear on the other side of the country. His partner Ulki is equally gifted, only his gift lies in his ears. If he cared to focus enough, he could probably hear us talking from Phoenicis."

"If they do come, how long will it take?" Ike asked as they descended the stairs of the tower and headed out on the grounds.

"If Tibarn comes alone, which is unlikely, he will be here in about twelve hours. If he comes with Janaff and Ulki, which he will, he will be here in a day to a day and a half."

"Why so long for his subordinates?" Titania asked, having been filled in as they walked.

"Most people make the common mistake of believing that Tibarn is a hawk. He is actually one of the few eagles left. As such, he is significantly stronger and faster then even the best hawks." Grim explained as they began to set up camp.

Once they were finished setting up, Ike called Marcia into his tent.

"Marcia, I want you to fly back and make a report to the Apostle for me. Also tell the rest of the company to come to Oliver's estate. We can have them stand by here incase we need them." Ike commanded.

"Alright, I'll go make the report. Do you want me to come straight back or do you want me to come back with the others?" Marcia asked as she turned to leave.

"Come straight back. Otherwise Grim would be lonely." Ike teased, causing Marcia to blush lightly.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours." Marcia said as she stepped out of Ike's tent.

Titania and Cryo were sitting outside their tent playing chess when Kumori and Lyndis walked by, seemingly arguing over something.

"I don't like him like that! I haven't even known him for two days!" Lyndis exclaimed.

"All I'm saying is stranger things have happened." Kumori said with a smirk. "Besides, I can prove my claim. You are full blooded laguz correct?"

"Yes. What does that have to do with anything?" Lyndis asked.

"I take it you weren't raised by laguz?" Kumori asked as they continued to walk.

"No. my adopted brother Stefan raised me and taught me to use a sword because I can't transform."

"Alright, now here's how I'm going to prove once and for all that I'm right. You have almost complete control of your tail, to the point that you can almost use it like another hand. However, I'm willing to bet that if I stand you next to Soren, you can't help but touch him with your tail. What's more, you won't even realize you're doing it." Kumori said as he looked around for Soren.

By this time, Titania and Cryo were in fits of muffled laughter, their chess game long forgotten as they watched the drama unfold before them.

Kumori finally found Soren and called him over. "Hey, Soren! I need a favor."

"What is it?" Soren began coldly, becoming noticeably friendlier when he realized Lyndis was standing there.

Kumori grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to stand next to Lyndis. "I just need you to stand right there for a minute."

Soren rolled his eyes. "Is there some point to this?" He asked before he felt something furry coil around his wrist. Soren looked down in shock to realize it was Lyndis' tail.

"Ha! I was right!" Kumori said, causing Lyndis to look down.

"So you were right, what does that prove?" Lyndis asked.

"That at the very least, you are physically attracted to Soren." Kumori said before walking away, leaving two stunned and blushing people in his wake.

Elsewhere

"My king, I have just spotted a flaming arrow. It appeared to be shot with the intention of catching my attention." Janaff said, pausing in flight.

"Does Reyson know that trick?" Tibarn asked.

"No. The only being outside of Phoenicis that knows that trick is Daniel the exile. Although it does appear to have originated near Serenes forest."

"We will check it out. If it is Daniel, then he might have news on Reyson." Tibarn said as he took wing toward the arrow, followed by Janaff and Ulki.

Several hours later, the three hawks landed in Duke Oliver's garden to see Grim walk out of a beorc camp.

"Why have you summoned us?" Tibarn demanded. "Speak quickly."

"I saw Reyson here. It appears that Naesala tricked him and sold him to the man who owns this property. The beorc mercenary company that I currently work for is employed by Apostle Sanaki and has been charged with finding Reyson."

"For what reason?" Tibarn asked. "If you are helping these beorc to recapture Reyson, I will kill you where you stand."

"I don't know why the Apostle seeks Reyson, but I believe she wants to apologize for the Serenes Massacre." Ike said as he approached. "I asked Grim to summon you so that I could ask for your aid. Grim informed me that Reyson intends to use heron chants to attempt to bring ruin to Begnion. He also told me that doing this would destroy his sanity."

"It would…" Tibarn said, suddenly thoughtful.

Ike, for once displaying he knew something of court politics, fell to a knee. "Laguz King Tibarn, I beg your help with this errand. Not only for the sake of my job, but for Reyson's sake, though he refused my help. I cannot in good faith leave things as they are. Duke Oliver searches for Reyson. All I ask is that you find him and take him from the forest. My company will handle Oliver's guard."

Tibarn's respect for the young man before him rose. "Stand beorc. I will help you." Tibarn said before turning to Grim. "I greatly regret being forced to exile you those years ago. If you have need of me, do not hesitate to call. Either I or someone I trust will fly to your aid."

"Thank you, my king." Grim said as he clapped his fist over his heart and bowed.

Tibarn turned to take off. "I am not your king, but I will still call you friend." He said before leaping into the air.

"Later Danni!" Janaff shouted before he and Ulki followed Tibarn to search for Reyson.

"Okay, let's get ready to move out." Ike said.

15 minutes later

Ike's mercenaries moved into the burned husk of Serenes forest in search of Duke Oliver's guard. They searched for the rest of the day. When it began to get dark, they withdrew back to Oliver's villa. The next day went much the same way, until about noon.

Lyndis and Stefan had climbed a burned out tree to get a better view of the surrounding area. Instead of empty dead woodland like they had expected, they spotted several soldiers searching a nearby marsh. Stefan stayed in the tree to keep an eye on their movements while Lyndis descended to the ground in a half-fall that left the surrounding beorc gaping at her grace. She landed next to Ike.

"There are a group of Oliver's soldiers in a nearby marsh. They don't know we are here." Lyndis said quietly.

"How many are there?" Ike asked as he silently drew his sword.

"Fifteen, maybe twenty. It's hard to get an exact count in these blasted marshes." Lyndis said as she drew her sword as well. Soren appeared by their side.

"The best way to fight in these swamps, is either with laguz, or from range." Soren whispered as he pulled a wind tome out of his sleeve. "That way the enemy gets slowed down in the bogs trying to get to you, allowing the laguz to shred them when they get too close."

"That's our plan then. Soren, Kumori, Rolf, Cryo, and Grim, you'll be our ranged." Ike said, starting slightly as Volke appeared next to him.

"Add me to that list." Volke said as he drew several throwing knives.

"Alright, Volke too. Jill and Lethe will hide in the reeds and ambush any who get too close. The rest will take positions outside the bogs near our ranged fighters incase they get passed Lethe and Jill." Ike said.

The Greil Mercenaries shuffled around quickly and quietly, taking positions to draw Oliver's guards into an ambush. Ike signaled Soren to begin the attack. Soren hurled a blast of cutting winds at the nearest soldiers, cutting several down. Immediately, one of the guards brought a horn to his lips and blew a long note, causing Soren and Ike to curse. The soldiers call for help was cut short as a knife sprouted from his neck, followed by three arrows thudding into his chest.

The men in the bog were well trained and quickly realized where they were being attacked from. One of the armored knights raised his shield and advanced, enduring minor cuts from Soren's wind and Grim, Rolf, and Kumori's arrows. Another knight joined him and they overlapped their shields, forming a small phalanx. The rest of the soldiers clustered behind them as they advanced safe from the deadly hurricane of wind and arrows. Ike was just starting to get worried when a knife hissed passed the left knight's shield and into the knee joint in his armor. The injured man stumbled forward and two arrows found creases in his armor as he fell, he was dead before he hit the ground.

Soren took advantage of the other knight's momentary loss of concentration to blast him from his feet with a concentrated burst of wind. Lethe and Jill shot from their hiding places and killed him before anyone could react. The two cats backed away from the remaining troops, hissing menacingly. A swirling ball of fire shot over them and exploded into the remaining troops, killing most and making to one's who lived wish they hadn't. Lethe and Jill quickly finished off the few that were still alive and started to return to the rest of the group.

From his perch in the treetops, Kumori spotted the approaching reinforcements before they had a chance to sneak up on them. He shouted a warning down to Ike as he released his arrow, felling another knight before he could raise his shield. Cryo spun and hurled another ball of fire at the advancing men. Soren turned and hurled a wind spell immediately behind Cryo's fireball. The winds caught up to the swirling mass of flames, and caused it to swell just before slamming into Oliver's troops, incinerating several. Cryo and Soren looked at one another in shock before identical grins split their faces.

The duke's troops quickly realized they stood no chance at range and charged at the stand of trees Ike's Mercenaries were currently sheltered in. Just before they reached the tree line, Titania, Oscar, and Kieran exploded from the underbrush. They scythed through their enemies' lines, cutting men down left and right before galloping to the safety of another grove of trees. While the men were still reeling from their cavalry charge, Marcia dropped from the sky into the ranks of their mages and killed several before vanishing back the way she came. As everyone was looking about frantically, trying to catch the next attack, three archers fell dead, each with arrows in their throats. Ike, Boyd, Nephenee, Gatrie, and Brom broke cover next, slamming into the disorganized group of soldiers like a typhoon. As if their charge was some sort of signal, Titania, Oscar, and Kieran broke from the stand of trees once more as Marcia dropped out of the sky.

As Ike fought, the soldiers rapidly figured out he was the leader. As such, they quickly cut him off from his troops and attempted to eliminate him. There were two things that prevented this plan from working; one was Ike's prowess with a sword, learned from his father Greil, the other was the sudden appearance of Volke at Ike's back. As the two men fought, Volke showing considerable combat skills for a common thief, Rolf, Kumori, and Grim picked off soldiers in the circle around them, trying to allow them to fight free. As the two men began to tire, Nephenee, flanked by Brom and Gatrie cut a sizeable hole in the circle surrounding Ike and Volke, allowing them to escape. Lyndis dropped from the trees behind their archers and with silence and stealth borne from a cat, she cut them down, one by one.

The mages had formed a circle facing outward, hoping to destroy any threat before they got to close. Several fell to arrows before a spear sprouted from one's chest, causing them to look over in horror. While they were distracted, Lethe pounced. She hit one man in the chest, seizing his neck in her jaws and snapping it. She leaped to her next victim before her first even hit the ground. Jill vaulted over the group of fighters attempting to get to Lethe. Twisting about in midair, she landed facing them, her lance held ready. She skewered one before pulling her lance back and slashing across with it, opening two men along their chests. As they fell she spun her lance over her head before bringing the head down near her calf. When the next one came at her, she snapped the lance up in a diagonal slash, the tip ripping across the unfortunate man's abdomen. With her lance out of position to block, she was forced to duck the next strike. As the ax swooshed over her head, she pivoted on her left foot and swept the soldier's feet out, running him through as he fell. While she was still low to the ground, Lethe flew over her head, slamming into the chest of another man, sending them both to the ground where she shredded his stomach. Lyndis appeared next to Jill and the three of them combined destroyed what was left of the group before them. When they were done, they looked around before realizing the fight was over.

Ike and Kumori walked through the swamp, taking head count to insure they hadn't lost anyone. While at the edge of the trees, they heard the rustle of leaves as something moved toward him. Ike and Kumori glanced at one another before Kumori drew his knives and slipped into the trees to investigate. Kumori saw a flash of white before something crashed into him, sending him to the ground on his back.

"Reyson? Are you alright?" Kumori asked before realizing that the objects pressing into his chest identified this heron as female. He blushed as he set his knives aside and struggled to his feet, picking the heron up with him. He leaned the girl against him and held her up with one arm while he bent to retrieve his knives. He sheathed the blades at his hip. Mindful of her wings, Kumori braced her shoulders on his right forearm as he swept his left under her knees. "I hope you're okay, and I hope Grim recognizes you." Kumori said to the heron in his arms as he made his way back out of the stand of trees to where Ike waited.

"Who is that?" Ike asked as Kumori came into view.

"I have no idea. I thought Reyson was the last heron. Grim might know. The bird tribes tend to keep tabs on each other." Kumori replied as they made their way back to the bog they had fought in.

When they returned they found the battlefield devoid of life. _'Soren must have pulled them back out of the forest… that's good, we were almost done searching anyway.' _Ike thought as they picked their way across the bogs, stepping lightly to avoid tripping over any bodies. When they reached the other side of the bog, Kumori stood panting for a moment while Ike kept an eye out for more of Oliver's guard. _'Thank the Goddess she's so light.'_ He thought as he adjusted his grip and pushed on.

Almost an hour later, the two men reemerged from the forest onto the former Duke's estate. Kumori crouched and gently set the heron's legs down before pulling the canteen off of his belt and taking a drink. Replacing the canteen, he picked her up and started the trek toward the mansion. They arrived in short order and were greeted by Titania and Soren.

"Where were… Who is that?" Titania began only to notice Kumori's burden.

"I have no idea who she is, I was hoping Grim might recognize her." Kumori said as he and Ike stepped inside.

"Leanne!" A voice across the foyer shouted. Grim skidded to a stop right in front of them. "Where did you find her? Is she alright?"

"I found her in the forest after the battle." Kumori said as he crouched and grabbed his canteen once more. "I don't know if she's alright or not, she's been unconscious since I found her." He finished as she upended his canteen over the girls head, causing her to start awake.

She shook her head, and sneezed cutely before looking around. She said something in a strange language before shivering. Kumori removed his cape and draped it over her shoulders.

"Leanne, how are you still alive?" Grim asked, prompting a simple response from her. "The forest protected you? You've been missing for twenty years!"

Leanne's eyes widened. "Reyson!" she shouted before continuing in the same language as before.

"Reyson's fine, he's hiding in the forest right now, but Tibarn, Janaff, and Ulki are looking for him. You remember Tibarn, right?" Grim asked. Leanne nodded her head as she pulled Kumori's cape tighter around her. Tears dripped from her eyes as she stuttered something. "Yes, I'm afraid it wasn't just a 

dream. The heron tribe was all but destroyed." Grim said sadly. "Until now, we thought Reyson and king Lorazieh were the only herons left."

"Grim, signal Tibarn so we can show him what we found." Ike commanded as Leanne sneezed again.

Grim walked outside and lit an arrow before firing into the sky once more. Tibarn came by himself this time, leaving Janaff and Ulki to continue looking for Reyson. When he saw Leanne, his eyes grew so wide they nearly fell out of his head. "Leanne!" Tibarn exclaimed as he hurried over and hugged her happily. "We thought you were dead." Tibarn said as he released her. Leanne talked for a moment, the inflection of her voice leading those listening to believe she was asking the hawk king a question. "Yes we are looking for Reyson." Tibarn replied, drawing another string of excited speech from Leanne. "He's hiding in the forest because Naesala sold him to the Duke of this villa. He managed to escape yesterday, and is currently planning to use gladrar to try to destroy Begnion. That's why we need to find him." Tibarn said, visibly tensing when he talked about his fellow king. Leanne shot off into a long monologue. After her rant, Tibarn stood silent for a moment. "I have never seen why you constantly protect him…" Tibarn grumbled, causing Leanne to reply with a clipped phrase. "Oh. That's why." Tibarn replied. "I have to return to the forest. We need to find Reyson before he reaches the altar." Tibarn said.

"If you happen to find any more of the duke's forces, signal us and we'll come as fast as we can. If we find Reyson before you, we'll signal you." Tibarn said as he prepared to leave and continue the search for elusive heron prince.

"Kumori and Grim; Leanne is your responsibility. Keep her safe." Ike said as he walked away.

Saxyguy – And that's another chappie! Hope ya'll like it, but I'll never know unless you feel like pressing the little blue button in the lower left corner of this page.

Go on.

You know you want to…

JUST PRESS THE DAMN BUTTON AND REVIEW ALREADY!

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That button right there!

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	7. Capturing the Duke

Disclaimer – No I still don't own the rights to Fire Emblem, although I may be getting closer. I now have 1.12 saved toward the cause of buying the rights to the games so I can make even more money then I currently do. (Not hard considering I'm not working right now…)

**Chapter 7**

Lethe and Jill stared at Leanne as she spoke softly with Kumori. They had returned to their rooms for the night and Leanne had refused to be separated from her savior, as she put it.

"Kumori, I hate to interrupt, but when did you learn the old tongue?" Lethe asked. "You didn't know it when you left Gallia."

"I learned it from Grim. He was the one who helped Tibarn teach Reyson to speak the modern tongue. I asked him to teach me, mostly because the herons have always fascinated me and I wanted to be able to speak with one if we ever met." Kumori replied, and then his face fell. "That was before the Serenes massacre." Kumori finished sadly.

Finally, Jill's curiosity got the better of her and she reached out and ran a finger along the edge of Leanne's wing. "To think that something so beautiful can be so useful..." She murmured, causing Leanne to blush slightly. Leanne stuttered something in the old tongue.

"Leanne says thank you." Kumori said with a smile. Jill continued to gently stroke her hand along the edge of Leanne's wing, smiling faintly as the heron princess continued to blush under her attention. Leanne blushed even brighter when Jill scooted closer to her and leaned her head on Leanne's shoulder, causing Kumori to laugh. He leaned over to Leanne and whispered something into her ear before leaning back on the couch and pulling Lethe into his lap. Jill purred in pleasure when Leanne reached up and freed her hair from its tie before running her fingers through Jill's red locks. Leanne jumped slightly when something soft and furry twined around her wrist and hand. "Well that didn't take long." Kumori commented.

Jill looked up to see Kumori and Lethe smiling at her knowingly. "What?"

"You still lose track of what your tail does from time to time, don't you?" Lethe asked innocently, causing Jill to look down to see her tail wrapped around Leanne's wrist as the tip tickled her palm.

"Wow. How did that happen?" Jill asked, with a slight blush.

"Anyway, we've got an early start tomorrow, so let's get some sleep." Kumori said as he gently pushed Lethe toward the bed. Jill stood and pulled Leanne up after her and they joined the two cats in their, thankfully, large bed.

Next morning

Leanne slowly opened her eyes to see Jill's sleeping face, their noses almost touching. She squeaked in surprise and jerked back only to fall out of the bed and land on the floor with a soft thump. Jill's eyes snapped open and she looked over the edge of the bed to see Leanne sitting on the floor rubbing her rear. Jill chuckled at the hurt look on Leanne's face. Jill gave a startled 'Meep" as Lethe wrapped her 

arms around Jill's shoulders and jerked her back into her chest. Curious, Leanne rose to her knees and peeked over the edge of the bed to see that Lethe had Jill in a death grip held tightly to her chest. Jill glared good naturedly as Leanne giggled.

"You could help me you know." Jill whispered crossly, causing Leanne to cock her head to one side quizzically. "I need you to come here and kiss her. She won't let go or wake up until someone does, and I can't get loose enough to do it myself." Jill whispered, causing Leanne to blush. Jill let out a sigh, figuring she wouldn't be getting free anytime soon. She closed her eyes and prepared to wait until Lethe woke on her own before the mattress sank a bit. Jill's eyes snapped open to see Leanne with her hands braced next to her leaning toward Lethe. Leanne pressed her lips to Lethe's and started to pull away when she felt a hand snake around behind her head to hold her still as Lethe kissed her back.

Lethe didn't even bother opening her eyes as she kissed the person who had kissed her awake. _'Wait a second… something's different… Jill's the only one who ever wakes me up like this, and I'm definitely not kissing Jill…'_ Lethe thought as she slowly opened her eyes. _'Oh… Reyson's gonna kill me….' _Lethe thought as he swiftly released the heron princess she had been kissing senseless.

Kumori sat up and yawned as he stretched in a manner similar to a cat. Glancing around as he blinked the sleep from his eyes, he caught Lethe and Leanne's identical blushes. "I missed something important didn't I?" Kumori asked, prompting Leanne to burst into a frantic rush of speech. "Whoa! Leanne, slow down. I can't understand you." Kumori said. Leanne stopped talking and took a deep breath before starting over, slower this time. "What are you sorry for?" Kumori asked curiously. Leanne replied with a stuttered sentence and a deep blush. "Kissing my fiancée? Which one?" Kumori asked. Leanne pointed at Lethe. "Why would I be mad about that? It's about the only way to wake her up anymore. Jill normally does it, but I guess Lethe got grabby again." Kumori mused, causing Lethe to blush.

"Reyson's going to kill me isn't he?" Lethe asked.

"I doubt it. Naesala and Tibarn are the one's I'd worry about." Kumori said off-handedly.

"Thanks. That makes me feel loads better." Lethe said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry. I doubt Leanne will even tell any of them. After all, she kissed you." Kumori said, teasing Leanne slightly and causing the heron princess to blush once more.

There came a knock at the door before Soren poked his head in. "Hurry up. We're getting ready to head back into the forest." He said before pulling back and closing the door. Kumori looked at Leanne for a moment before she shot him a look and a stern sentence.

Kumori's eyebrows shot up. "No, I wasn't even thinking about telling you to stay behind. Why would I?" Kumori asked. Leanne replied with a short sentence. "Well there is that, but I think it would be easier to ensure your safety if you stay near me or one of my mates." Kumori replied, indicating Jill and Lethe. "Hopefully Ike will just tell us to avoid any fighting and concentrate on keeping you healthy. It wouldn't do to have you injured before we find your brother." Kumori finished. Leanne spoke for a moment before she stepped up and hugged Kumori. Leanne released Kumori and they swiftly prepared for another day of searching.

Serenes Forest

Lyndis and Soren stood surveying the swamp before them. Actually they were studying Duke Oliver and his elite guard in the swamp. They were near the altar near the center of the forest and Ike was getting worried because Tibarn hadn't signaled that they had found Reyson yet.

"Soren, we need to take them out and help Tibarn find Reyson." Ike said.

"I know. I'm trying to decide how we should fight them without Kumori, Lethe, and Jill." Soren said, indicating the three laguz guarding Leanne. "The best way would be to have ranged fighters draw them onto solid ground to fight. That way our troops don't have to deal with the mud slowing them down."

"So the same basic strategy as last time, only this time we want them to charge us." Ike simplified.

"In a nutshell, yes. The only major difference is that our melee fighters should hide to ambush Oliver's troops as they enter the woods." Soren explained. "The main problem we run into is that Marcia, Titania, Kieran, and Oscar can't fight on horseback in the woods, so their effectiveness is reduced, but that is balanced by the ambush." Soren continued in a whisper as he kept a weather eye on the movements of the men in the clearing. "The best place for our ambush to hide is in the trees with our ranged fighters, then as the enemy enters to trees, you drop down and kill them as they struggle to react. The only ones on the ground will be Nephenee, Brom, Gatrie, and the knights because their armor makes it impossible for them to climb."

"Good plan. Let's set it up." Ike said as he pulled back to organize the ambush while Soren and Lyndis kept an eye on Oliver's guard. After several minutes of silent shuffling around, everything was set. Soren stood on a wide branch next to Lyndis and Stefan. He looked over to Rolf and Grim and nodded. The two archers quickly took aim and loosed their arrows. Two heavily armored knights fell when the shafts found chinks in their armor.

Oliver stared at the two bodies in horror for a moment before ordering all of his troops into the woods to find them.

"A'ight, they be a comin." Nephenee whispered as she peeked through the bush she hid behind. Oliver's guard entered the trees searching the branches above them for the archers, so when Nephenee, Brom, Gatrie, and the knights broke cover and charged into them, they were caught completely flat footed. As they tried to react to Nephenee's charge, Lyndis, Stefan, and Ike dropped from the trees. The three landed back to back and swiftly cut down the nearest soldiers before taking off in different directions.

Ike joined up with Titania and the two mercenaries fought back to back, cutting down the surrounding men with ruthless efficiency. Whenever a man would slip past the guard of either one, he would suddenly burst into white hot flames courtesy of Cryo.

Marcia fought with Oscar for a time before separating to fight on her own. She dropped a sword-toting man, only to have an ax wielder step into his place and bring his ax down in a two handed chop, which she caught on the haft of her lance. She stared in horror as another swordsman appeared and thrust his blade at her stomach. _'I… I'm sorry… Grim…' _She thought as she waited for the sword the pierce her abdomen. When it didn't happen, she opened her eyes to see both men on the ground with hawk feathered arrows in their throats. She looked up and threw a jaunty salute to Grim before stepping forward and continuing the fight.

Stefan's blazing sword work made him nigh untouchable on the battlefield. He cut down soldiers as if he were doing nothing more difficult then harvesting wheat, and his face never lost its small smile. Not even when he saw the ax speeding toward his head with his sword out of position to block and no time to dodge. Before the blow got anywhere near Stefan's body, Volke appeared in between the two and slipped a knife through the man's ribs. As Volke pulled his knife free, a man behind him leveled a lance at his back. Volke looked over his shoulder just in time to see Stefan grab the offending man by the chin from behind and snap his neck with a violent jerk. The two loners nodded to one another before turning away from each other and continuing the battle, each trusting the other to watch their back. ((A/N: If any of you have seen the Last Samurai, I envision Stefan's swordsmanship as similar to Ujio's, with the combination of sword and unarmed attacks. And to those of you who haven't seen The Last Samurai, go see it, now. Drop whatever it is you're doing and get this movie.))

Lyndis blocked a strike from a swordsman before sliding passed him and stabbing him from behind. She yanked her blade free in a diagonal slash upwards to her right shoulder, deflecting the arrow that had been speeding toward her chest. She spun her blade once before sheathing it with a flourish. She then crossed her arms and closed her eyes and waited for the next idiot to charge at her. Lyndis' ears perked up as she heard the light footfalls of a sword master charging at her from the front. Her eyes snapped open and she grabbed the hilt of her sword as she dropped into a crouch, her left leg out in front of her. As the man closed, Lyndis stepped forward and partially unsheathed her blade, slamming the pommel into his sternum and knocking him flat on his back. She finished pulling her blade from the sheath and spun it behind her back as she passed it to her left hand, again knocking an arrow off course, before tossing it back to her right hand in a reverse grip and plunging it into the man at her feet. She sheathed her sword once more and waited again. This time she picked up the heavy thud of a fighter's booted feet rushing toward her. Her eyes snapped open and her sword sprang free of its sheath to block the man's clumsy strike. Lyndis twisted her sword slightly and slid it forward, slicing the man's neck wide open. As she was replacing her sword at her hip, her eyes widened in shock as she felt the tip of a knife slice through the back of her shirt, only to be stolen away in a howl of magical winds. She looked up to see Soren with a worried look on his face. Lyndis smiled and finished stowing her blade before waving to Soren and continuing the fight.

The fighting had been going on for nearly two hours. Soldiers on both sides were so tired they could barely lift their weapons, let alone kill their foes, yet still they fought on. It had even gotten so that Grim had to leave the battle to fetch extra quivers for himself and Rolf. Soren and Cryo both sat side by side, panting for breath after the intense magical stress of fire spells for as long as they had. Ike's mercenaries had been pushed back into a circle when more of Oliver's guard had shown up from the woods.

Ike sighed in helplessness. Even if he called in Lethe, Jill, and Kumori; the addition of three fresh fighters wouldn't sway the battle to their favor. _'I just hope that Tibarn found Reyson.' _Ike thought as he struggled to keep fighting through his fatigue.

Elsewhere

Tibarn sighed as he flew up above the altar in the center of the forest. They hadn't found Reyson, so Tibarn had decided to wait where they knew he would be going. Ulki had long ago picked up the sounds of battle nearby, and Tibarn itched to wing to their aid, but he knew that Reyson wouldn't listen to Janaff or Ulki. The worst part was from the sounds of the battle; his two retainers wouldn't sway the battle by much.

"Your majesty, I hear the sound of wings approaching." Ulki said. Tibarn glanced at Janaff, who immediately leaped into the air to check the skies.

"I see white wings! It's coming from the wrong direction to be Leanne." Janaff called.

Tibarn shot from a seated position and launched himself into the air with barely a twitch from his powerful legs. He brushed by Janaff, spinning the young hawk around in the air from the speed of his passing.

"Reyson!" Tibarn called. The heron prince looked up at the sound of his name.

"Tibarn? How did you find me?" Reyson asked.

"Daniel told me where you were." Tibarn confessed, immediately putting the young prince on the defensive.

"He is friends with a beorc." Reyson said venomously.

"Yes he is, and so am I. This beorc is different." Tibarn explained as he blocked the path to the altar with his body. "Not to mention the fact that he helped rescue Leanne."

Tibarn's words shocked Reyson to the very core of his being. "L…Leanne… is alive…?" He murmured not quite able to believe the hawk king.

"Yes she is." Tibarn said seriously. "If you forswear your current quest for vengeance and promise to meet with the Apostle to hear her words, I'll take you to her."

"Take me there now." Reyson demanded. "I no longer have the taste for vengeance. I want my family to be whole once more." Reyson finished softly. Tibarn beckoned to Janaff and Ulki before turning and leading the way toward the battlefield. When they came within view of the clearing where the battle was taking place, they saw that Ike's mercenaries were surrounded in the middle. The only reason they were able to continue fighting was because their opponents lacked any kind of ranged fighters.

"Janaff, Ulki, I want you two to pull out any injured and take them to the safety of the woods. Also gather the healers and take them too." Tibarn said before he shifted and began to swoop down at the fight.

Mist glanced around frantically, trying to spot anyone who needed her to heal them. As her eyes passed over Boyd, she froze. She watched one of his downward chops missed the soldier he was fighting and his ax sank into the ground next to his foot. Mist screamed as the soldiers lance exploded through Boyd's torso as he tried to pull his ax from the ground. She slipped the staff into a harness across her back that Boyd had made for her and charged forward, snatching a sword that was stuck in the ground on the way. The soldier looked up from the body at his feet as Mist swung her sword across. There were two separate thumps as the man's body and head fell next to each other.

"Boyd, you idiot!" Mist shouted as tears stung her eyes and she defended his body. Her sword work was amazing for someone who had no formal training. An ax swung at her and she blocked it, followed by a 

sword, which she ducked. She snapped her foot out as she rose and kicked the ax wielder in the crotch, causing the unfortunate man to double over in pain before she brought her sword down on his helmeted head. The sword sliced through the iron of his helmet and skull. It lodged in the twisted remains of his helmet; the sword was pulled from her hands as the man fell. She turned back to the sword wielder before raising her fists in front of her, determined that no one would get to Boyd. As the man brought his sword down and Mist moved to dodge, and ax intercepted the blade with a loud clang, throwing the man off balance.

Boyd screamed in rage and pain as his left fist slammed the man square in the face, crushing his nose with an audible crack. As the man fell back, Boyd swung his ax in a circle over his head with his right arm before smashing it down into the man's chest. He spit some blood on the dead body and turned to check on Mist.

"Are you alright?" He asked, slightly confused by her horrified expression.

Mist somehow managed to keep the contents of her stomach down as she stared through the ragged hole in Boyd's left shoulder and at the man charging at Boyd's back.

The battle froze as an eagle's screech rent the air. The man slid to a stop and looked up just in time to have Tibarn slam into him from a dive, smashing the unfortunate soldier into a bloody smear on the grass. Janaff and Ulki swooped in next, scooping up Mist and Boyd and depositing them in the trees with Soren and Cryo.

Unfortunately, the hole in their line caused by Boyd's departure allowed Oliver's guard to break the mercenaries' formation. The battle swiftly descended into a brutal melee. Ike's troops were too exhausted to take full advantage of the situation. Everyone paused as a loud crackling sound filled the clearing. Ike looked up to see Leanne standing on a thick branch as it grew from the trunk of the farthest tree out of the clearing. Reyson landed next to her and her guard quickly formed up around her. Leanne looked lovingly at Reyson before she began to sing in the old tongue.

Reyson immediately recognized the gladrar she was singing and joined in, boosting its power. Everyone stared in wonder as the two herons sang. Ike shook his head as a slight sense of vertigo came over him before it faded, leaving him feeling totally refreshed, as if he had just slept all night. Ike grinned darkly as he and his mercenaries tore into their surprised and exhausted enemies with renewed vigor.

One of the lance toting soldiers recognized the value of the two herons to Ike's force so he turned and hurled his javelin at Leanne.

Before Kumori could even start to grab for his katana, Leanne raised a hand toward the missile. She spoke several words before the end of the branch shot up and intercepted it. She turned to Kumori with a smile and said a few words.

"Why do you need us?" Kumori asked in shock. "What if somebody came at you with a sword? You might be able to keep them from hitting you, but they you can't sing your gladrar. That's why were here." Kumori replied. "Besides, I thought you enjoyed our company." Kumori quipped, reminding the princess of that morning and causing her to blush.

Kumori glanced over to check on the battle just in time to see Lyndis get cut off from her group and surrounded. He worried for a moment before Stefan stabbed one man in the back and wrapped his left arm around another man's neck and pulled him to the side, using him a shield against the next nearest soldier. Lyndis drew her sword and appeared next to Stefan on his right side and blocked the strike headed his way. She pushed against his weapon, throwing the man off balance. As he was stumbling back, Lyndis spun to her right as Stefan did the same. Stefan brought his sword down on the man's shoulder, nearly cutting him in half with the power of his strike. Lyndis, on the other hand, came out of her spin low and brought her sword up in a diagonal slash, ripping open the man's belly and spilling his intestines on the ground. Lyndis smirked as he looked down in horror before she spun once more and took his head from his shoulders in a mercy stroke. Stefan twirled to his left this time, prompting Lyndis to do the same. He came out of his spin and thrust his sword into the next man's face before snatching his opponent's sword from his nerveless fingers. He tossed the sword over his shoulder as Lyndis stabbed her opponent in the knee. She caught the sword by the hilt and opened the man's throat with it. Flowing with the momentum of her follow through, she began to spin as she stepped away from Stefan. At each revolution, she brought one or both of her swords to bear on the next soldier in line.

As Lyndis and Stefan cut down the men around them, Ike fought back to back with Nephenee. The two soldiers ripped into the men charging at them. Once they finished all the soldiers readily available, Ike began to look around for Oliver. He spotted the fat bishop nearby. Ike signaled to Nephenee what he wanted, and the two charged through the soldiers between them and Oliver. Oliver's four elite guards stepped forward. Two went down with arrows in their throats. The third fell to Nephenee's lance. The final guard screamed in pain as his armor turned cherry red from heat, boiling him alive. Oliver started to make the motions to cast a spell at Ike. Ike simply lowered his shoulder and slammed into him, sending both men to the ground in a pile. Ike came out on top with his sword at the man's throat.

"Throw down your weapons! Surrender and face the Apostle's judgment!" Ike shouted over the sounds of battle. Slowly, Oliver's soldiers began to drop their weapons. Ike's mercenaries quickly gathered the discarded weapons into a pile as Tibarn sent Janaff to inform the Apostle that they had found Reyson and captured Oliver. As Janaff left, Ike ordered his troops out of Serenes forest to wait for the Apostle to arrive.

Saxyguy – That's the chapter. This is the last one before I leave so be satisfied and leave me reviews! Ja ne!


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